The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

"What are these?" The king asked as he picked up a meatball that looked like nothing he had eaten before, while the other aristocrats looked at him curiously.

"That is a meatball, my king. Something you can chew on while discussing before the main meal is served," Alicia responded as she looked at the king, waiting eagerly for him to have a taste of it and tell her if he liked it.

The king turned to look at his wife, wondering why she wasn't saying anything yet and noticed she was lost in her thoughts and still looked very pale. She was still anxious but had been able to tone it down.

The queen could care less about Princess Amber.

That note had succeeded in messing up her head, and what made it worse was the fact that she didn't know who her enemy was. She didn't get any smell from the note to give away the person and it made her even more insecure, especially with all these aristocrats gathered.

Was it Harold? She shook her head. She didn't think it was him. He was the type to go directly and not play around; besides, the note had said the secret wasn't just about Harold's mother. Then who among all these people had done that?

Seeing how her husband and some of the guests were beginning to look at her, she broke out of her thoughts and tried to compose herself. Her eyes fell on the table and seeing all the strange things there, even though she hadn't heard whatever they said earlier, she could guess who had done this.

"Don't tell me you prepared this?" The queen asked, her displeasure obvious in her voice, even though she liked that Alicia was doing things like this that would make the aristocrats like her even less. She had a lot on her mind, yes. But she wouldn't forget her original goal. Whoever was trying to blackmail her, she was going to find the person and, with her bare hands, squeeze the living daylight out of them. They were going to regret messing with her.

"Who let you into the kitchen?" Damon asked, hating that once again she was behaving as she liked without following the rules of the royal family.

Alicia turned to Harold, not because she didn't have an appropriate response for either the Queen or Damon, but because she had promised not to cause any trouble and she needed him to speak if he didn't want her to say something.

"I gave her permission to go into the kitchen. Do you have a problem with that?" Harold asked, silently daring anyone to say something careless about his wife in front of him.

The king ignored everything else they were saying as he bit into the meatball and chewed on it slowly before looking at her with interest, "You made this yourself?"

"I did my king, but with help, of course. Princess Tyra and Lady Susan assisted me. Do you like it?" Alicia asked hopefully, and the king smiled as he gave her a curt nod before picking the cheese grape cluster, while the Queen eyed Tyra with disapproval.

"And what is this?" The king asked as he looked at it with interest, while everyone else watched and waited for the king to have a taste of it.

It seemed like the rumours they had heard outside were false. They had heard that this new human bride was a troublemaker and everyone in the palace hated her. But watching her interaction with the king now, he seemed quite fond of her and she seemed to be getting along well with the princess and Lady Susan.

"It is called a cheese grape cluster. I noticed you haven't been eating very well lately, so I thought you might enjoy something different on the menu, especially as it is a special occasion. Thanks to my husband, who made sure I got all the items I needed to make these things for you, we were able to arrange these," Alicia said with a proud smile, trusting that since the king was aware that she had been in exile, he wouldn't ask how she learned to make the snacks.

"Menu?" The king asked, and Harold remembered what she had said about it being a list of food.

"She means the list of food being served," Harold explained, and Alicia turned to him with a wide smile, pleased that he was taking note of the words she was used to.

The king nodded as he bit into the cheese grape cluster, and then he smiled when he tasted the juicy grape. "This tastes good too," the king said, and Alicia beamed with pleasure.

"Surprisingly, you seem to be good at something," Harold whispered to Alicia, who glared at him even though she heard the subtle pride in his voice when he said it.

Of course, the exchange was not hidden from all the prying eyes.

"Why are you not eating? It's not every day that a princess goes into the kitchen to prepare such a special meal. You should enjoy it," the king urged the others. Although most of them have been dying to have a taste of it, they didn't want to show it.

While most of them were curious about how these strange things tasted for the king, who was used to different varieties of food to be pleased by it, some others had different reactions.

Harold didn't pick up any and just watched everyone's reaction to see if the king had been exaggerating because he liked her.

Harvey seemed very confused as he looked at Alicia with confusion. Ivan, on the other hand, was too irritated at her that the thought of eating what she had made with the other two witches made him feel like throwing up, but there was no way he could go against the king and not eat it.

Benedicta, on the other hand, was trying so hard to keep her anger hidden, but it was proving difficult with each passing second and even the tea her mother had given her to help her calm down was not working.

She still couldn't believe that Harold chose a human bride over her. She was going to make him regret it.